KUALA LUMPUR: The movement to boycott businesses and products linked to Israel in the country lacks tactic and global collective effort, says Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS Malaysia).
Its chairman, Professor Dr Mohd Nazari Ismail, said this was one reason that contributed to the divisive nature of people's attitudes towards such stance.
He said the local movement should follow the global BDS efforts to hold big brands with visible links to the Israeli military and settler occupation in Palestinian territories accountable.
He said, one successful example of the BDS movement that resulted in a company withdrawing operations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) was the American ice-cream giant Ben & Jerry's in 2021.
According to the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre's website, Ben & Jerry's had licensed a factory in Israel for more than three decades, shipping ice cream from the factory to illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
"There are many other BDS victories to highlight, but what I am trying to point out here is that without sustained efforts of activists and a strategic global advocacy, this would not have been possible," Nazari said.
He said choosing to boycott businesses and products aimlessly would only impede the collective movement to stop "genocide and ethnic cleansing".
He said some Malaysians were still not aware of the geopolitical history and atrocities committed against the Palestinians, which led to many not being able to grasp the rationale behind the boycott.
"To ensure any BDS movement to be effective, it depends on the participating localities' strong sense of justice," said Nazari.
Although Malaysia did not have any diplomatic ties with Israel, he said boycotting on an economic scale was one form of protest against injustice that an ordinary citizen could proactively do.
Earlier this month, Palestinian ambassador to Malaysia Walid Abu Ali commended the public's commitment to boycotting businesses allegedly linked to Israel.
Walid said the measures taken by Malaysians had played a significant role in increasing awareness and expressing a resolute stance against what he referred to as Zionist oppression.
